Inspired to soar to great heights

I truly love fall weekends. The cool breeze, yet warm sun shining down upon us. This past weekend we enjoyed a fun wedding shower for a to-be sister-in-law, my daughter loved time with friends at a birthday party for a classmate, and we loved dinner with family friends.

We also were able to enjoy an afternoon with great friends and neighbors at the Afton Apple Orchard! Picking Macintosh apples, Enjoying a fantastic playground, and following it up with some dinner and ice cream can’t be beat.

These days I am soaking in the time and energy my kids exude to me, and trying to be present in the moments we are experiencing.

Friday: Picked up the kids from school, showed Dad their classrooms, and we were off to Valley Fair! I was a perfect Friday evening to go – no lines, and beautiful and 75 degrees. There is such a great variety of thrills to mild-fun for the little ones. We also celebrated Addy’s first test in school, with the A-F grading system – a spelling test in which she got an A+! #proudmomma

Saturday: Enjoyed a morning of food and fun at the fair. Was way too busy to snap any pics! Came home to a lovely nap, went to church, and then grilled out and had a campfire with friends. Perfection!

Sunday: The Apple Orchard (Aamodt’s!) with a childhood friend of Aaron’s, and his family – followed my lunch at Acapulco’s. We were early in the season but still enjoy Apple donuts and some fun pickin’ of Curtland Apples. The kids then went to Grandma and Grandpa’s house in WI for some last-bit-of-summer swimmin’ and a campfire. We got to enjoy a night out to dinner to celebrate a friend’s birthday! (Cravings – YUM!)

Monday: Helllooo work day! I love spending Labor Day catching up on fun, R&R, and also some work. Throughout the weekend, I have managed to go through and clean out and purge all of our 4 bathrooms and bedrooms of expired, old, unused items. It was fantastic! Today, Aaron is doing an outdoor fall clean up day, and I am catching up on some work projects along with brunch and a hike with a friend. Maybe we’ll head to see Jason Bourne tonight!

Whatever you are doing this weekend, I hope you take a moment to enjoy the weather, and the people you are with.

Yesterday we celebrate Labor Day – if you are feeling cluttered and disorganized, I encourage you to give Avant Synergy a call; we can help you treat the fall like 1/1, and reach those goals of de-cluttering your space, and freeing up mental energy on what you love most!

Well, it’s the annual First Day of School post! For some reason this year wasn’t too emotional. Max had another year of Pre-K with the same teacher and loves it. He was upset on Tuesday when we wasn’t able to go again, like Addy. 🙂 Addy started 2nd grade which is different – they have a planner and spelling words now – and although she isn’t the most excited about school, she truly enjoys learning and that warms my heart.

We love the kids school and their classmates. We love the proximity to our home. We love that they read about God’s Word every day. Life is good on the school front!

We do miss our nanny and her son, but already have two babysitting dates on the books.

Change is inevitable. Its good and bad and just plain-old-change. Embrace it and all the emotions that come along with it!

To me, family is just a word – it’s a choice for those you love as unconditionally as humans can.

This past weekend, we got to spend an amazing weekend with our newest family.

We are so grateful that Cole found such an amazing family to welcome into our crew – the kindness, love, and hospitable spirit – in addition to the pure fun and laughing we will forever-more experience – is just wonderful.

We enjoyed some tubing, skiing, smores, and pontoon riding; and loved every minute of it.

It seems that lately, adventures are around every bend. From small afternoon ‘errand adventures’ with the kids, all the way to life changing decisions and opportunities. I am fueled by adventures. I am fueled by ‘what’s next’. I have to work hard to be in the here and now – being present and loving the ‘current’. This year, specifically, I have worked hard at that – and it’s been so rewarding. Just enjoying a beautiful day, a relaxing nap, or time with friends and family.

And you truly get the best of both worlds when you do that – because I think the adventure actually ends up following you, ten-fold.

The past few days we enjoyed some bonus time with Aaron’s brother’s family who currently lives out of the country. It was great to catch up, hug, play, laugh – and sadly, cry. They were brought here under less than ideal circumstances, Aaron’s grandma’s death – however we enjoyed teaching the kids about Heaven, together, and spending quality time with family.

Today, we said good bye to our Nanny for the last year and her son. We will continue to see them in a more babysitting capacity, and love them like family! But it still just won’t be the same.

In addition, Max had his speech class open house! We ran into neighbors who will be attending the same school; and it made me remember how much family extends far beyond blood.

Cheers to kids growing up, and the people who are along side us for the adventure.